BARCO — Southern Wayne could not stop Currituck from putting a bat on the ball.

It was finding holes through the Saints' defense that made the difference Friday.

Southern Wayne found its opening with a run in the seventh en route to a 1-0 victory against the Knights in the first round of the 3A state baseball playoffs. Currituck (15-5) had five hits in the game, but no more than one in each inning. The Knights put just three runners in scoring position, while no player reached third base.

For the first six innings, the Saints were nearly in the same position, making it a pitchers' battle between Currituck's Austin Beasley and Southern Wayne's Michael Douglass.

"We didn't hit the ball well enough to win tonight," Currituck coach Denny Chalk said. "Our pitching was there, ultimately our defense was there, but we couldn't get the hit when we needed it."

Making contact was not a problem against Douglass. The hurler did not record a strikeout, but had just one walk and baited Currituck hitters into 10 fly-ball outs. The Saints did the rest on defense.

Both squads combined for three hits until the fifth, when Southern Wayne (14-11) got back-to-back singles with one out, and Beasley followed by beaning a third batter to load the bases.

Beasley regrouped, getting Cody Davis to pop up and striking out Ricky Odon to end the threat. It was the opening Chalk believed could make the difference for the Knights.

"I thought we would come in and score at that point," Chalk said. "We didn't catch a break today, and we didn't make a break either."

Again, the Saints got two runners on with walks by Beasley in the seventh. Davis made use of the opportunity, hitting a grounder up the middle. The throw was not in time to get Jordan Hood for the 1-0 score.

"We've been talking about overcoming adversity, and Cody Davis came up with a big hit," Southern Wayne coach Trey McKey said. "He got a good piece of the ball, and we made some really, really good defensive plays."

James Selvaggi hit a two-out single in the bottom half of the seventh, but Stefan Vaughan flied out to end the game.

Selvaggi was the one ray of light at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a stolen base. Currituck outhit Southern Wayne 5-4.

Chalk believed that Beasley was the choice to finish the game. He came out to talk to the team in the seventh, but was certain the senior had enough to hold off the Saints.

"With the two walks we got a little concerned, but he's been our workhorse all year long," Chalk said. "We knew Vaughan could come in and close it, but Beasley was a senior and had thrown the ball good enough and deserved the opportunity."

TENNIS

2A Eastern Regional

First Flight dominated the 2A Eastern Regional at Riverbirch Tennis Center in Greenville Friday and Saturday.

Freshman James Chase won the singles title and the top-seeded duo of William Gray and Taylor Sullivan won the doubles. Also, Ian Cook and Tommy Taylor placed third in doubles.

Edenton's contingent at the regional fared well. Tyler Edmundson fell in the second round after defeating First Flight's Patrick Gray in the first round, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Stefan Kappe dropped a close first-round match, 7-5, 7-5, to Cannon Gore of South Columbus

In doubles, the Aces' Chris Edmundson and Danny Brusko had an easy time in the first round before falling to second-seeded Bradley Walters and Ethan Caudell of Saint Paul's in round two. Kanon Nixon and Jacob Lewis split the first two sets with St. Paul's Greyson Burns and Jessie Sechler, but lost a heartbreaker in three sets.

3A Eastern Regional

Currituck's two doubles teams fell in the first round of the 3A Eastern Regional at Barton College on Friday.

Alex Tulowiecki and Tim Vinick lost to the top seeds, Alex Durham and Travis Kirkpatrick of Rocky Mount, 6-0, 6-0. Aaron Baker and Nick Rouse lost to the No. 3 seeds, Andrew Meade and Zach Foster of D.H. Conley, 6-0, 6-2.

"We were simply playing better players," Currituck coach Vic Ramsey stated. "No matter how hard you try, and we tried hard, if you don't have the skills, it's tough to be competitive."

Vinick graduates and Tulowiecki will attend the NC School of Math and Science next year, but Baker and Rouse return.

"Aaron and Nick will be the core of next year's team, and I was pleased with some of what I saw today. I'm hopeful we'll have better results next year."

TRACK AND FIELD

2A State Championships

Three area girls, two from Northeastern and one from Pasquotank, competed in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A track and field championships at North Carolina A&T State University on Friday.

Northeastern's Alex Tavenier ran in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, finishing 10th and 11th. Teammate Rochelle Butts just missed qualifying for the final, placing fifth in her heat in the 200-meter dash. The top four from each heat moved on to the final and Butts' time of 26.61 was .44 behind fourth place in the second heat. She would have qualified for the final if she had been placed in the other heat.

Pasquotank's Anesha Bembury had a discus throw of 90'4" to place 10th overall.

Cummings won the girls' team title and Shelby took home the boys' championship.